Trump resists calls to disclose his tax returns

The presumptive Republican nominee told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday “there’s nothing to learn from them.”

Trump’s resistance to releasing his tax returns leaves major questions for voters weighing a candidate who has staked his campaign on his business acumen and the fact that he is “very, very rich” and would mark a major break with decades of precedent set by the nominees of the two major political parties.

Despite telling conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in February 2015 — before he declared his candidacy — he “would release tax returns,” Trump has pivoted to say he would not do so while his income tax filings are still under audit by the Internal Revenue Service. Given that he says his tax returns since 2009 are still under audit, it is highly unlikely Trump will release anything before the November 2016 election if he sticks to that reasoning.

“He still leaves himself this out by saying if this audit wraps up before the November election, then sure he’ll release his tax returns,” said Julie Pace, one of the AP reporters who interviewed him, on CNN’s “At This Hour.” “We said, ‘Will you push your lawyers on this, will you tell them that voters deserve to know this information regardless of the audit?’ He said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘One, the voters don’t actually care about this, and two, there is no new l information that would come out of the tax returns.’ “

“I don’t think that there will be any curtailing of Donald Trump as president,” he said. "He controls the media, he controls the sentiment [and] he controls everybody. He’s the one who will resort to executive orders more so than [President] Obama ever used them." - Ron Paul

Trump has pivoted to say he would not do so while his income tax filings are still under audit by the Internal Revenue Service. Given that he says his tax returns since 2009 are still under audit, it is highly unlikely Trump will release anything before the November 2016 election if he sticks to that reasoning.

That is a personal decision (he has been under audit for several years in a row now)- there is no legal reason he can't release them. Nixon released his while under audit.

Why won’t Trump release his tax returns? Here are a few possible reasons.

Donald Trump does not expect to release his tax returns before the November election, the Associate Press informs us today. He told the AP that he doesn’t believe voters are interested, adding: “There’s nothing to learn from them.”

Define “nothing.”

Trump: Signing My Tax Return

First, it’s possible that Trump wants to obscure his charitable giving patterns. “If he isn’t doing much charitable giving, that’s relevant, and potentially could have an impact,” Thorndike notes. “He has claimed he is a very generous philanthropist. The tax returns would demonstrate whether or not that’s actually true.”

The second possible reason is that Trump may have lots of money parked overseas, and if so, this would come out in the returns. “If you have foreign accounts, you have to disclose them and check boxes confirming you have them,” Willens tells me. “It could be embarrassing.”

Third, these experts note, it’s possible that Trump’s returns might reveal that he isn’t quite as rich as he likes to claim he is.

“I’m leaning towards the idea that he’s income poor but asset rich,” Willens says. “The tax returns wouldn’t convey that. They would only convey the shortage of income without conveying the other side of the coin, his real estate holdings.”

If there is one thing we know about Trump at this point, it is that he values being seen as a winner above all else. Trump may believe that if he is perceived as a loser (relative to his self-inflating boasts, that is), it could dramatically undercut what he believes is a winning argument for the presidency — i.e., that he is the greatest winner ever, and therefore can make America a bigger winner than it’s ever been before.

Whatever the motive here, what Trump is doing may be unprecedented in one important respect. The tradition of presidential candidates releasing their tax returns dates back to Richard Nixon. As Philip Bump documents today, Nixon released his tax returns while president, even though he was under audit. Thus, Trump — who had previously said he would not release his returns until an ongoing audit is complete, and is now suggesting he may not release them at all — is not even willing to do what Nixon did.

Worse, as Thorndike points out, Trump may well decline to release them, even though he is likely to have far more complex returns than Nixon did. “It’s disturbing,” Thorndike says. “Complexity can hide a multitude of sins. There’s going to be a lot going on in those returns, even if it is all legitimate. But we have no way of knowing whether it’s legitimate unless we can actually see them.”

Of course, Trump has broken a whole string of political rules during this campaign, so maybe he’ll get away with this one, too.

As the political press focused on Donald Trump’s contradictory statements about abortion Wednesday, his campaign quietly released an unusual letter from his tax lawyers claiming the businessman has been under “continuous examination” by the IRS since 2002.

The letter, signed by Sheri Dillon and William Nelson of the firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, gives no advice to Trump on his refusal to release any of his tax returns to the public. Every presidential nominee since Jimmy Carter has publicly disclosed at least a few years of tax returns.

But the lawyers’ three-paragraph letter does provide official-sounding backup to Trump’s claims that he’s being audited, so he can’t release his returns.

Trump’s tax returns have been under “continuous examination” by the IRS since 2002, “consistent with the IRS’ practice for large and complex businesses,” the lawyers wrote.

IRS examinations of Trump’s tax returns from 2002 to 2008 have been “closed administratively,” the lawyers wrote, “without assessment or payment.” That means the examination of those returns is finished.

IRS examinations of returns for the years since 2009 are “ongoing,” the lawyers said.

But here’s the catch: The lawyers said Trump’s recent tax returns — the ones the IRS is still auditing — are just extensions of his older returns, because they include “items that are attributable to continuing transactions or activities that were also reported on returns for 2008 and earlier.”

“In this sense, the pending examinations are continuous of prior, closed examinations,” the lawyers wrote.

"Not going to release them until the audit is over". He has been "under audit" for 12 years with no end in sight. Translation: I ain't gonna let anybody look at my income taxes!"

You should have a look at my tax filings for the last 6 yrs. I hereby grant the IRS to release them.

Theye have refused their Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

Theye have erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

Theye kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies

Theye have combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution,

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

Theye plundered and destroyed the lives of our people.

Theye are at this time transporting Armies of Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy of a civilized nation.

Pretty sure no one has won POTUS in the last 40 years without releasing their tax returns.

“I don’t think that there will be any curtailing of Donald Trump as president,” he said. "He controls the media, he controls the sentiment [and] he controls everybody. He’s the one who will resort to executive orders more so than [President] Obama ever used them." - Ron Paul

“I don’t think that there will be any curtailing of Donald Trump as president,” he said. "He controls the media, he controls the sentiment [and] he controls everybody. He’s the one who will resort to executive orders more so than [President] Obama ever used them." - Ron Paul

“I don’t think that there will be any curtailing of Donald Trump as president,” he said. "He controls the media, he controls the sentiment [and] he controls everybody. He’s the one who will resort to executive orders more so than [President] Obama ever used them." - Ron Paul

Damned right. It bumped this thread only because the campaign is desperately trying to get the country to ignore the fact that Hillary is practically coughing up blood.

* Enforce Border Security – America should be guarding her own borders and enforcing her own laws instead of policing the world and implementing UN mandates.

* No Amnesty - The Obama Administration’s endorsement of so-called “Comprehensive Immigration Reform,” granting amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants, will only encourage more law-breaking.

* Abolish the Welfare State – Taxpayers cannot continue to pay the high costs to sustain this powerful incentive for illegal immigration. As Milton Friedman famously said, you can’t have open borders and a welfare state.

* End Birthright Citizenship – As long as illegal immigrants know their children born here will be granted U.S. citizenship, we’ll never be able to control our immigration problem.

"Not going to release them until the audit is over". He has been "under audit" for 12 years with no end in sight. Translation: I ain't gonna let anybody look at my income taxes!"

Well, if you consider being under constant audit nobody, then...wtf is wrong with you?

* Enforce Border Security – America should be guarding her own borders and enforcing her own laws instead of policing the world and implementing UN mandates.

* No Amnesty - The Obama Administration’s endorsement of so-called “Comprehensive Immigration Reform,” granting amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants, will only encourage more law-breaking.

* Abolish the Welfare State – Taxpayers cannot continue to pay the high costs to sustain this powerful incentive for illegal immigration. As Milton Friedman famously said, you can’t have open borders and a welfare state.

* End Birthright Citizenship – As long as illegal immigrants know their children born here will be granted U.S. citizenship, we’ll never be able to control our immigration problem.

Damned right. It bumped this thread only because the campaign is desperately trying to get the country to ignore the fact that Hillary is practically coughing up blood.

false.

“I don’t think that there will be any curtailing of Donald Trump as president,” he said. "He controls the media, he controls the sentiment [and] he controls everybody. He’s the one who will resort to executive orders more so than [President] Obama ever used them." - Ron Paul

It's nice to see somebody with enough spine to stop letting the liberals define the rules of the damned game, that's for sure.

* Enforce Border Security – America should be guarding her own borders and enforcing her own laws instead of policing the world and implementing UN mandates.

* No Amnesty - The Obama Administration’s endorsement of so-called “Comprehensive Immigration Reform,” granting amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants, will only encourage more law-breaking.

* Abolish the Welfare State – Taxpayers cannot continue to pay the high costs to sustain this powerful incentive for illegal immigration. As Milton Friedman famously said, you can’t have open borders and a welfare state.

* End Birthright Citizenship – As long as illegal immigrants know their children born here will be granted U.S. citizenship, we’ll never be able to control our immigration problem.

I hope he doesn't say that he put his records on a computer in his garage and accidentally they got deleted. Then washer accidentally fell and bleach destroyed everything that remained.
We need transparency.

It's nice to see somebody with enough spine to stop letting the liberals define the rules of the damned game, that's for sure.

What is a "liberal"?

How is Donald Trump not a "liberal"?

"The program of liberalism, ...if condensed into a single word, would have to read: property..."

-Ludwig von Mises

"Patriotism, not nationalism, should inspire the citizen. The ethnic nationalist who wants a linguistically and culturally uniform nation is akin to the racist who is intolerant toward those who look (and behave) differently. The patriot is a "diversitarian"; he is pleased, indeed proud of the variety within the borders of his country; he looks for loyalty from all citizens. And he looks up and down, not left and right."

-Erik Maria Ritter von Kuehnelt-Leddihn

"All the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man who can most adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum. The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."

For starters, he's politically incorrect - definitely not a liberal trait. He wants to end illegal immigration, globalism, regime changes, nation building and illegal wars of aggression against nations that pose no threat to the US, while working with Russia, a nation currently being set up for conflict by the establishment. He wants to put America first, supports the 2nd amendment and will nominate conservative SCOTUS justices. He is loathed by the media, liberals and neocons alike. He is unlike any liberal I've seen.

Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt were overt racists, as were virtually all leftists prior to the 60s.

Maybe you should think about policies instead of words.

He wants to end illegal immigration, globalism, regime changes, nation building and illegal wars of aggression against nations that pose no threat to the US, while working with Russia, a nation currently being set up for conflict by the establishment. He wants to put America first, supports the 2nd amendment and will nominate conservative SCOTUS justices. He is loathed by the media, liberals and neocons alike. He is unlike any liberal I've seen.

That is, he is an entirely typical anti-capitalist politician, and his supporters entirely typical anti-capitalist rabble.

There is no difference between you and any SJW.

"The program of liberalism, ...if condensed into a single word, would have to read: property..."

-Ludwig von Mises

"Patriotism, not nationalism, should inspire the citizen. The ethnic nationalist who wants a linguistically and culturally uniform nation is akin to the racist who is intolerant toward those who look (and behave) differently. The patriot is a "diversitarian"; he is pleased, indeed proud of the variety within the borders of his country; he looks for loyalty from all citizens. And he looks up and down, not left and right."

-Erik Maria Ritter von Kuehnelt-Leddihn

"All the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man who can most adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum. The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."

For starters, he's politically incorrect - definitely not a liberal trait. He wants to end illegal immigration, globalism, regime changes, nation building and illegal wars of aggression against nations that pose no threat to the US, while working with Russia, a nation currently being set up for conflict by the establishment. He wants to put America first, supports the 2nd amendment and will nominate conservative SCOTUS justices. He is loathed by the media, liberals and neocons alike. He is unlike any liberal I've seen.

Ya know, I'm no Trump fan, but it sure is refreshing to get an intelligent answer from a Trump supporter with no attacks and name-calling.

“I don’t think that there will be any curtailing of Donald Trump as president,” he said. "He controls the media, he controls the sentiment [and] he controls everybody. He’s the one who will resort to executive orders more so than [President] Obama ever used them." - Ron Paul

"The program of liberalism, ...if condensed into a single word, would have to read: property..."

-Ludwig von Mises

"Patriotism, not nationalism, should inspire the citizen. The ethnic nationalist who wants a linguistically and culturally uniform nation is akin to the racist who is intolerant toward those who look (and behave) differently. The patriot is a "diversitarian"; he is pleased, indeed proud of the variety within the borders of his country; he looks for loyalty from all citizens. And he looks up and down, not left and right."

-Erik Maria Ritter von Kuehnelt-Leddihn

"All the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man who can most adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum. The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."

Considering that CPUd hasn't been banned for flooding this forum and pretending that he's a moderator, I'm guessing that it has something to do with maintaining a level playing field. If spammers can spam, then others can call it spam and maybe throw in a zinger every now and then about the former voting habits of a sizable chunk of people who claim to be Ron Paul supporters.

Considering that CPUd hasn't been banned for flooding this forum and pretending that he's a moderator, I'm guessing that it has something to do with maintaining a level playing field. If spammers can spam, then others can call it spam and maybe throw in a zinger every now and then about the former voting habits of a sizable chunk of people who claim to be Ron Paul supporters.

Donald Trump has been adamant that the sole reason he is the only major presidential nominee in modern history refusing to release his tax returns is because he is under audit by the Internal Revenue Service.

As we've noted, that's sort of a flimsy excuse because you absolutely can release tax returns while under audit; President Richard Nixon did it in 1973. I've written in this space about the six reasons Trump might not want to release his taxes. But, on Wednesday, Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of the Republican nominee, gave us a simple and sensible explanation: His dad doesn't want the scrutiny.

Here's the relevant passage from Trump Jr.'s interview with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

When asked why his father has not released his tax returns as presidential candidates have traditionally done, Trump Jr. said, "Because he's got a 12,000-page tax return that would create … financial auditors out of every person in the country asking questions that would detract from (his father's) main message."

Right.

That seems to me a remarkably honest answer from DJTJR (that's my preferred abbreviation for Donald Trump Jr). Donald Trump is a very wealthy man and a real estate developer. Everything we know about the tax returns of very wealthy people and developers is that those returns are very complicated and the principals almost always take advantage of every loophole available to them to pay less money. (Developers regularly report negative income for a year and, therefore, pay no taxes.)

No matter what's in there, you can be certain that Trump's tax return would look nothing like the tax return of the average person he is trying to persuade to vote for him. They would be exotic — in much the same way Mitt Romney's tax returns were in 2012. As I wrote about Romney's return in July 2012:

The tax returns speak to a broader Romney problem: convincing average people that he is like them or, at the very least, can understand their lives in some meaningful way.

Romney’s background — his father was a governor and ran for president — is different than most people. His religion — roughly 2 percent of Americans are Mormon — is different than that of most people. And his wealth — as evidenced by his tax returns — is different than most people.

Trump has similar problems. Born in New York City into a wealthy family, Trump has achieved a level of wealth that the average person can't even comprehend. And when it comes to his tax returns, he himself has proudly admitted that he exploited every possible angle to pay as little in taxes as possible.

"I fight very hard to pay as little tax as possible," Trump told ABC's George Stephanopoulos in May. When Stephanopoulos asked what Trump's tax rate was, the real estate mogul responded: "It’s none of your business. You’ll see it when I release. But I fight very hard to pay as little tax as possible."

What Don Jr. did Wednesday then was confirm what we already knew: The reason Trump isn't releasing his tax returns isn't because he is being audited. (It's also not any of the myriad other reasons he has offered to explain why he isn't releasing them.) The reason is simple: He has calculated that the damage done to his campaign in releasing the returns is far worse than the negative press he gets from not releasing them. That's it.

“I don’t think that there will be any curtailing of Donald Trump as president,” he said. "He controls the media, he controls the sentiment [and] he controls everybody. He’s the one who will resort to executive orders more so than [President] Obama ever used them." - Ron Paul